March 7
Current mood: artistic
Category: Writing and Poetry

For all of you around Las Cruces and El Paso, mark your calendars:

Event:  David Lee Summers Featured Reading at Cafe Capirotada
When:  7pm on Friday, March 7, 2008
Where:  The Little Temple on the Rio Grande Campus of El Paso Community College (906 El Paso Street, El Paso, Texas)

Hope you can make it out for the event!
David

3:40 PM - 6 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Return to Astronomy
Current mood: busy
Category: Jobs, Work, Careers

As I indicated in my last entry, I believe that science is an important pursuit.  So, when folks at Kitt Peak National Observatory contacted me at the very end of 2007 and told me that they were looking for an observing assistant and asked if I would be interested in applying, I took it very seriously.  Now, after some discussions and an interview, the folks at Kitt Peak have formally offered the job and I have accepted.  Tomorrow, I officially return to the world of professional astronomy.

Now people may wonder if this means the end of my work in the world of science fiction and fantasy.  The short answer is absolutely not.  I have three new books coming out in the near future, along with short stories in anthologies and magazines.  I absolutely plan to continue writing and, for those folks who enjoy my audio books at Podiobooks.com, I still plan to produce Heirs of the New Earth as an audio book this year.

The Tales of the Talisman production schedule will also continue uninterrupted.  That said, I am considering a short break from reading for the magazine while I come up to speed on the duties in my new job.  I've just finished sending out acceptances for the winter 2008 issue and I almost have enough material in hand for the spring 2009 issue.  I'm going to see how it goes with my first shift before making a final decision, but this is a head's up that I may very well take a short break in reading.  If I do, there will be a formal announcement at talesofthetalisman.com

Of course I also edit books for LBF Books/Lachesis Publishing and I'm editing an anthology for Flying Pen Press.  Again, no anticipated changes here for the short term.  If I've committed to a project, I plan to see it through.  I don't anticipate any significant delays on any project currently in my stack.  Depending on how things go with the new job, there may be some effect on the number of future projects I take on, but we're going to see how things go in the coming weeks.  I consider myself very fortunate to work with such fine and supportive folks as Carole Spencer at LBF/Lachesis and David Rozansky at Flying Pen.  And, while I'm naming names, I should mention Tyree Campbell at Sam's Dot Publishing.  I'm not editing anything for him at present, but he is publishing a book I'm in and the fine magazines he publishes have been an important venue for my work over the last few years.

A new job means changes and new challenges.  There will certainly be changes in my writing and editing life as I adapt to the challenges of a new job at Kitt Peak.  However, those changes should have minimal impact on current projects while, in turn, providing me with new inspiration for future projects.

9:16 AM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Thoughts on Science and Science Fiction
Current mood: contemplative
Category: Writing and Poetry

In January, LBF Books accepted my novel, The Solar Sea, for publication.  The Solar Sea tells the story of Thomas Quinn, a young scientist who discovers an unusual new element, valuable to his father's company.  He discovers that the element exists in abundance on Saturn's moon, Titan, and convinces his father to fund an expedition so they can learn more about the element.  They build a manned solar sail craft and off they go on their adventure.

One thing I hear quite a lot is how not enough science fiction is being written and published that appeals to young people.  The question is, why is it important that young people read science fiction?  Personally, I think it's important because it gets young people to think about the future and it gets them to think about how science plays a part in making that future happen.

Science is valuable and it is an important pursuit.  Through science, we increase our understanding of ourselves, our universe, and our place within the universe.  Without science, there is no question that our daily quality of life would suffer.  I can name a whole litany of things where science has helped people from computers to medicine.  Those are pretty obvious commercial applications, but they wouldn't have been possible without the basic human desire to explore the world and universe around us.  And yet, it seems that all too often here in the twenty-first century, that basic drive is trampled on in favor of short-term commercial and personal interests.  It's pretty common for me to hear phrases like "we need to solve the problems we have on Earth before we explore space" as though we as a people don't have the ability or the willpower to do both.

I wrote The Solar Sea to be a good novel for young people.  It's not a young adult novel per se, but it was written to be the kind of novel I would have enjoyed reading in junior high or high school.  It is a novel that embraces the need to explore and understand.  It's also a novel that explores one of the fundamental truths about science and that is that scientists don't get everything right the first time.  However, that's part of the fun of science.  Scientists take the new things they learn and constantly revise our understanding of the universe.

Now, in response to people who say that not enough science fiction is being written and published that appeals to young people, I often hear other people talk about the poor quality of science fiction written years ago and that science fiction is now "growing up."  My question is this:  Who says that science fiction has to be written either for kids or for adults?  Every other genre has stories written to appeal to different age groups.  I think there's plenty of room for science fiction that appeals primarily to young people and science fiction that appeals primarily to adults.

In addition to what I've said about science fiction getting people to think about the future and about science, science fiction allows us to explore important and often sensitive issues in a new light.  The potential for the genre is huge and science is ever expanding.  As our understanding of the universe and ourselves expands, there's more potential for good science fiction to be written both for young people and for adults.  The important thing is that we don't close our minds to the possibilities.

12:42 AM - 5 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Coming soon...
Current mood: optimistic
Category: Writing and Poetry

January 2008 proved to be quite an exciting month.

I had two vampire-related short stories accepted for publication last month.  "The Vrykolakas and the Cobbler's Wife" will be appearing in Cemetery Dance magazine and "Jiang Shi" will be appearing in Hungur.  More about each of these when I have more news.

Also related to vampires is the story collection Blood Sampler coming this spring from Sam's Dot Publishing.  Blood Sampler collects a number of vampire short stories (many very short) written by Lee Clark Zumpe and myself.  For people who have enjoyed my novel Vampires of the Scarlet Order, Blood Sampler will give you a little insight to where some of the ideas started and a sneak peak at some things to come in that universe.

I finished collecting stories for the anthology, Space Pirates.  Agreements will be going out to the authors and more information about that will be coming soon, once I connect with the publisher and make sure everything's good to go.  Look for Space Pirates in August of this year.

Finally, the big news that capped off the entire month is that LBF Books has accepted my short novel The Solar Sea for publication.  The Solar Sea tells the story of humanity's first voyage to the outer planets. Thomas Quinn, heir of the powerful Quinn Corp, designs and builds the space ship Aristarchus.  Meanwhile, the VLA radio telescope in New Mexico makes a strange discovery about Saturn's moon, Titan, and marine biologist Myra Lee has discovered an unusual phenomonon in the oceans of the Earth... I've had this idea for a number of years, and even started it twice. Ultimately, I threw away what I'd started as simply not working. Inspired by the Cassini mission to Saturn, I made a fresh start for the National Novel Writing Month, November 2004 and finally finished the novel.  This is a book that, I think, works well for young and old alike.

I uploaded cover art for The Solar Sea by Laura Givens.  This cover is very tentative and may very well change as we get closer to publication time, but I think it conveys the novel's sense of excitement.

By the way, there is a little sneak peak at The Solar Sea in my novel Heirs of the New Earth.  One of the characters is watching a documentary about the events of The Solar Sea. 

Now, time to look ahead to February!

6:57 AM - 9 Comments - 10 Kudos - Add Comment

Tagged... AGAIN
Current mood: cantankerous
Category: Life

Gloria Oliver came along and tagged me.  So below are 16 random things about myself.  If you get tagged by me, write 16 random things about yourself and feel free to tag some more folks... just remember, no tag backs.

If I get tagged again, I'm probably going to refer people back to the two tags I've already posted!!!

1. I didn't read The Lord of the Rings until after I made my first professional fantasy sale.
2. I did read Moby-Dick in high school, even though it wasn't actually required.
3. I thought Moby-Dick was overrated until I read the unabridged version nearly ten years later.  (Do you know how hard it is to find the unabridged edition??)
4. I don't have cable or satellite TV.
5. Most of the TV shows I do watch are on DVD.
6. I've never been as comfortable with telephone communication as email or face-to-face communication.  I think it's because I like having that visual component.
7. I didn't own a cell phone until 2005.
8. I got my first email account in 1985.
9. Generally speaking, I prefer my own cooking to even very good restaurants.
10. I like restaurants because I don't have to do the dishes afterwards.
11. I took accordion lessons in elementary school.
12. I still own an accordion.  (It discourages intruders!)
13. I learned to drive a locomotive before I learned to drive a car.
14. The number of the Super Bowl is the age I'll turn that year.
15. My birthday, Christmas and New Years always fall on the same day of the week.
16. I grow my own hops and have brewed my own beer from them.

12:25 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Winter Newsletter
Current mood: accomplished
Category: Writing and Poetry

It's been far too long since I've had a chance to post anything here.  So as 2007 draws to a close and we look ahead to 2008, I figured I'd share my winter newsletter and provide a number of updates all at one time.


I.  Printed Books

2007 saw the release of my fourth novel, Heirs of the New Earth.  This novel completes the trilogy that started with my novels, The Pirates of Sufiro and Children of the Old Stars.  The trade paperback edition may be ordered from most fine bookstores (if it's not already on the shelf), or it can be found online at the following sources:
http://www.amazon.com
http://www.bn.com
and http://www.genremall.com

Of course, The Pirates of Sufiro, Children of the Old Stars, and Vampires of the Scarlet Order are all available from the same sources.  If you'd like a signed copy of any of my books, just drop me an email and I'll be happy take your order myself.  After all, signed books make great gifts!

Next year, keep an eye out for a book tentatively titled Blood Sampler: Small Sips for Vampire Lovers.  This book, coming from Sam's Dot Publishing, collects some short stories and prose poems written by Lee Clark Zumpe and myself.  Also coming soon from Sam's Dot will be Wondrous Web Worlds 7, which will include my James B. Baker Award-nominated short story, "An Asteroid By Any Other Name."

Also, next year will see the publication of Space Pirates, a collection of short stories exploring all aspects of space piracy written by many fine authors including Neal Asher.  I'll be editing the collection and Flying Pen Press in Denver hopes to have it available in time for the World Science Fiction Convention in August.

Finally, my story, "Electric Kachinas" is in the current edition of Science Fiction Trails Magazine and may be purchased at http://www.sciencefictiontrails.com


II.  Electronic Books

Not only are my books available on paper, but you can now download them in a variety of ebook formats at Fictionwise.com.  Both Children of the Old Stars and Heirs of the New Earth were top ten bestsellers in science fiction ebooks in 2007.  If you would like to check out my science fiction novels in their ebook formats, the direct links are:

The Pirates of Sufiro
http://www.fictionwise.com/eBooks/eBook51981.htm

Children of the Old Stars
http://www.fictionwise.com/eBooks/eBook52408.htm

Heirs of the New Earth
http://www.fictionwise.com/eBooks/eBook53398.htm

Look for Vampires of the Scarlet Order to appear at Fictionwise in early 2008.


III.  Audio Books

This year, I recorded my second novel, Children of the Old Stars for Podiobooks.com.  My friend Ti Alva helped me read and the music was provided by Steve Starcher.  You can download the book from Podiobbooks at:http://www.podiobooks.com/title/children-old-stars

The first book of the old star trilogy, The Pirates of Sufiro, is also available at Podiobooks.  The direct link is: http://www.podiobooks.com/title/the-pirates-of-sufiro

In 2008, I plan to record the third novel of the trilogy for Podiobooks.  Look for the audio edition of Heirs of the New Earth to appear by early summer.


IV.  Tales of the Talisman

Tales of the Talisman magazine continues to bring you excellent short stories, poetry and artwork from artists around the world.  What's more, this year we gave our website a facelift.  You can find the new website at: http://www.talesofthetalisman.com

Not only can you order the magazine at the site, get news about the magazine and find guidelines for writers and artists, but we have a nifty web page with ongoing comics by Laura Givens and Jerry Shippee.  Check the site weekly for new material.


V.  Upcoming events

March 6, 2007: At 7pm, I'll be reading at El Paso Community College at the Rio Grande Campus.  If interested, let me know and I'll keep you updated about the exact room.

March 20-23, 2008: I'll be a participant at Norwescon at the SeaTac Doubletree in Seattle.  More information about the event is online at: www.norwescon.org


VI.  Regular updates

For those who would like to receive more regular updates than this newsletter, remember to drop by my website athttp://www.davidleesummers.com or my other blog at http://www.sffworld.com/blog/5226.html

Happy Holidays everyone!
David

1:46 PM - 7 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

Victoria, Canada
Current mood: melancholy
Category: Travel and Places

Mark Anthony Brennan, who has written for my magazine, Tales of the Talisman, invited Kumie, Myranda, Verity and I up to his home in Victoria, Canada.  So, on Thursday, June 14, we drove over to Port Angeles, Washington so we could catch the ferry to Victoria.  On the way to Port Angeles, we discovered the Naval Undersea Museum in Keyport, Washington.  The museum was largely devoted to the history of undersea warfare.  There was enough hands-on stuff that the kids really enjoyed themselves and I was in heaven with all the fun high tech displays along with some information about ocean science.  We didn't stay too long since we had to get to Port Angeles in time to catch the ferry.  As we drove, though, we had to stop at a drawbridge because, of all things, a Navy Submarine was crossing!

The ferry ride from Port Angeles to Victoria was nice.  Myranda and I spent much of the trip outside looking for Orcas, since it was the season for them to be around, but we didn't see any.  In Victoria we met up with Mark very easily -- though we'd never met, we'd seen photos of each other -- and he took us to his house where we had dinner with his wife, Dora, and his two younger kids.  His daughter was the same age as Myranda, for which Myranda was very grateful because she hadn't had much opportunity to spend time with kids her own age.  Mark and I stayed up late that night talking politics and science fiction and generally solving the world's problems.

The next day, Mark took us on a tour of Victoria which included a trip up Mount Douglas for a view of the city.  We then went down to the docks where the girls got to see a wild seal begging for food.  The seal seemed a little disgruntled that we didn't have anything to feed it.  Going further along the beach, we found some tide pools and I was able to show the girls some of the life that was there including numerous tiny crabs.  We finished up in downtown Victoria with a tour of the British Columbia Parliament Building and the Empress Hotel and lunch.  That afternoon, we caught the ferry back to Port Angeles and drove home to Seattle.

Dave

9:15 AM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

The Underground
Current mood: awake
Category: Travel and Places

On Tuesday, June 12, my brother Dale, his wife Anne, and their youngest daughter, Megan, arrived from Kansas.  Megan just graduated from the University of Kansas.  This was also the actual day my mom turned 80, though the party was scheduled for later in the week.

The next day, most of went down to Pioneer Square in Seattle and took the tour of the Seattle Underground.  Basically, the Underground was created because Seattle was built on the Puget Sound tidal flats.  A series of seven sea walls were constructed to keep the water out and the streets were elevated on a series of archways so that the "ground" floors of most downtown buildings actually became basements.  The tour was fun and included a lot of history of Seattle, particularly from the days when most of Seattle's men were loggers and most of Seattle's women were... seamstresses (or at least so they claimed on one famous census which showed that Seattle had one of the largest population of seamstresses of any city in the U.S. and they were all congregated downtown where it was very difficult to find any actual sewing machines.)

I may have to find an excuse for my vampires of the Scarlet Order to visit the Seattle Underground -- it seemed a great setting for a vampire story.

After touring the Underground and having lunch at a downtoan pizza place, we made a whirlwind tour through Pike Place Market.  There, in the collectable's shop, I came across a book by Tales of the Talisman contributor, C.J. Henderson.  That was a whole lot of fun.

Dave

6:52 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Book signing in Everett
Current mood: mellow
Category: Travel and Places

An 80th birthday is a special event and I wanted to make sure my mom received a special present this year.  Her birthday present was the dedication -- to both my mom and dad -- in Heirs of the New Earth.  (My dad passed away back in 1980, for those who don't know.) I've hesitated dedicating any books to my parents before because I wanted the book dedicated to them to be a special one.  It seemed especially appropriate to dedicate Heirs of the New Earth to my parents.  First off, the book centers around the actions of John Mark Ellis, his mother, Suki Carter Firebrandt, and his grandfather, Ellison Firebrandt.  Three generations come together to help each other and help an Earth that is in trouble.  It's a book about helping others, something my own mom has done all her life.

It was especially gratifying that the book was not only released in time for me to give mom a copy on her birthday, but I was able to have a book signing in Everett, Washington (just north of Seattle) a few days before mom's birthday.  This made the book's "unveiling" a little more of a momentous occasion that it might have been otherwise.

The book signing was at Borders in the Everett Mall and was part of their Beach Reads event.  Some thirteen authors showed up on a very rainy day -- many of us in our beach attire -- to promote books that are great summer reading.  You can see a picture of me at the event at the calendar page on my official website.  (You can also find out the next events I'll be at!)  My mom, wife, and daughters all tagged along.  My nephew Dan made a special point of showing up and tried to surprise me, but mom gave him away!  I got to meet a lot of new people and had a great time.  We sold about half the copies of Heirs of the New Earth that Borders ordered, so all in all, I consider the event a success.

If anyone reading this couldn't make it -- and can't make it to any upcoming events -- but would like to get a signed copy of Heirs of the New Earth, you can get them over the internet!  Just go to hadrosaur.com or genremall.com and then send a message here through MySpace letting me know that you placed the order and to whom the book should be signed -- I can sign books that are ordered through both of those venues before they're sent out.  Pretty cool, huh?

More about our trip to the Pacific Northwest in the coming days!
Dave

12:42 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Back from vacation
Current mood: content
Category: Travel and Places

Actually, I've been back from vacation about two weeks now, but I'm just getting caught up enough that I can write a little about where I went and what I did.  My wife, kids and I went to Seattle for two weeks to gather with my brothers and their families to help my mom celebrate her 80th birthday.  While we were in Seattle, we got to do and see a lot of fun things.

This trip marked the first time that either of my kids had been on a plane ride.  Myranda, who's 11, had a blast.  She shouted "woo hoo" when the plane lifted off, startling several people around us.  Verity, who's 5, seemed to enjoy the experience at first, but quickly closed the little curtain over the window and spent most of the ride between El Paso and Phoenix clinging to her mom's arm and then most of the ride between Phoenix and Seattle clingling to my arm.

We arrived in Seattle safe and sound that night and were met by my sister-in-law Jan.  Upon arriving at my brother's house, and unpacking, we discovered little slips of paper declaring that TSA had decided to inspect our baggage.  Though I appreciate the desire for security, I have to say, it sent a bit of a shiver up my spine to realize that someone had searched my personal belongings while I wasn't there.

We spent one day in Seattle at Seward Park, which is a peninsula that juts out into Lake Washington.  We took a picnic lunch and watched boats on the lake.  The girls enjoyed seeing the ducks and herons that were arround.  After eating lunch, we took one of the hiking trails that cuts through the park and admired the large trees and fern-covered ground that surrounded us.  I almost expected we'd find a dinosaur somewhere in the park.  We did ultimately find dinosaurs in Seattle, but not at Seward Park (unless you count ducks and herons as dinosaur descendents!).  Toward the end of our hike, we came back by a craft shop.  We watched as a squirrel darted into the shop, looked around and then saw a dog.  The dog finally noticed the squirrel as it was running away and started barking.

A few days later, we went to downtown Seattle to see the Space Needle and the Pacific Science Center.  It was a bit of a blustery day, so going outside on the visitor's gallery of the Space Needle was a bit cold.  Still, we had some excellent views of the city.  After that, Myranda and I went to the Pacific Science Center, while Kumie and Verity went to the Children's Museum.  It was at the Pacific Science Center that Myranda and I discovered dinosaurs!  On display was a wonderful set of dinosaurs discovered in China.  The best part about that to me, was discovering a display of tsintaosaurus -- which is the dinosaur we use in the Hadrosaur Productions logo (At the time I'm writing this, a photo of the dinosaur appears in my MySpace profile pic with me standing alongside.  Myranda took the picture).  While at the Pacific Science Center, we also saw a demonstration on combustion.  Holly, the demonstrator, showed how fire worked and gave us a demonstration of all kinds of combustion, including showing off the ingnition of hydrogen and oxygen -- which made a rather impressive bang!

Coming up in future entries: a book signing, the underground, Victoria and, of course, the birthday party...

5:19 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment